"Oh no he's reviewing another foreign language film" I hear you say. Well it is true that my film reviews do contain a possibly disproportionate number of foreign language films but I can assure you that I do not watch them because of some arty tendency towards subtitled films. In fact until a few years ago I would have avoided them as I found the reading of subtitles too much effort. But then I realised what a wealth of great film-making I was missing out on and after watching a few I found you can develop the ability to read the subtitles without even trying. This along with my profound disillusionment with standard Hollywood bilge has led me more and more towards this type of film and yet again I have been pleasantly rewarded.

El Crimen del padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) is a Mexican film released in 2002. It is directed by Carlos Carrera and is based on a novel written in 1875 by Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós. It has been nominated in 2003 for both Oscar and Golden Globe Award for best foreign language film.

Plot
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The novel the film is based upon has been updated from 1875 Portugal to 2002 Mexico.

The film opens with a young man sitting next to an old man on a bus. The old man is telling the young man about how he is going to realise his dreams with the money he has but then the bus is stopped by bandits and all the passengers robbed. On leaving the bus the young man gives some money he had hidden to the old man and says "I hope this will help".

So the young man arrives at his destination in a remote Mexican town. And we now learn that the young man is a priest called Father Amaro (played by Gael García Bernal who also starred in the popular Mexican film "Y tu mamá también"). Father Amaro has been sent to the town to gain some experience and report back to the Bishop on the situation there.

We are also introduced to the pretty young Amelita (Ana Claudia Talancón) and her boyfriend Ruben (Andrés Montiel). Amelita works in her mother's restaurant and is deeply religious but she is losing interest in Ruben the unreligious son of an outspoken critic of the church and the behaviour of it's priests. Amelita notices the arrival of the young man (not knowing he is a priest) and is immediately attracted to him.

Father Amaro comes under the wing of Father Benito (Sancho Gracia) and at first seems totally naive and is a little disturbed by the behaviour of the priests in the town. It becomes apparent that Father Benito is not only sleeping with Amelita's mother but he is also building a grand hospital with money that comes via the Mayor but is donated by the local drug baron Chato Aguilar. The priests play cards and get drunk and the only one that seems to have some moral integrity, Father Natalio (Damián Alcázar) is accused of aiding guerillas because of his involvement with remote rural peoples.

Amelita splits up with Ruben who goes to work for a newspaper and exposes the questionable links between Father Benito and the drug barons. But Father Amaro is ordered by the bishop to write a rebuttal to the story which leads to Ruben losing his job.

Meanwhile Amelita's fascination with the new priest leads him to succumb to the temptations of the flesh and he conspires to set up a place where they can meet. To do this he pretends that Amelita is studying with him to be a nun and convinces the church's sexton Martin to allow Amelita to visit his retarded daughter Getsemani to teach her catechism.

The plot develops to demonstrate the fall of Father Amaro from naive priest to one who blends into the corruption around him and this ultimately leads to tragedy. The good people such as Martin and Father Natalio fall victim to the corruption in different ways but the bad survive as we see that the corruption extends right back to the bishop.

OK, this is all getting a bit involved but the plot develops wonderfully from an observation of a simple town into a sort of Shakespearean tragedy. I will not give away any more.

Analysis
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In a deeply Catholic country like Mexico this has been a very controversial film that has received much criticism for it's open attack on the Catholic church and it's dubious involvement in Mexican politics. It has also received criticism for some of the material in the film that has been deemed to be blasphemous (with lines like "You are more beautiful than the Virgin"). However in my research of reviews of the film on sites like IMDB I have found a large number of reviews from people in Mexico and many have said that the material in the film is painfully close to the truth. Having never been to Mexico I cannot really comment on this but as a lapsed Catholic myself I have over the years become more and more disturbed by the skeletons that the church appears to have in it's closet.

As for the film itself I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It starts off painting a charming picture of life in the more backward parts of Mexico and then leads into what seems to be a true love story. But do not be fooled. The picture it paints is ultimately very dark and a scathing criticism of those that use the cloth to put themselves above others and abuse the power it gives them.

The cinematography is lovely. The musical score is great. And the story, though it might seem a bit soap-operaish at times, delivers a punch that leaves a sick feeling in your stomach.

Acting
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Gael García Bernal in the lead role delivers a superb performance. His ambiguous morality, his fall from purity, and his true horror at what he has become is beautifully portrayed. My only criticism is that he does seem a little too young for the role and it is sometimes hard to believe in a priest that looks like a teenager.

Ana Claudia Talancón as Amelita is pretty and convincing as the oxymoronic religious tease.

Special mentions have to go to Blanca Loaria who does a magnificent job as the retarded Getsemani and also watch out for Luisa Huertas as the local nutter, Dionisia.

Summary
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I found this film thoroughly entertaining. The plot develops steadily but surely towards it's tragic and disturbing end (no Hollywood happy endings here I am afraid).

The film looks good, it is acted well and it raises all sorts of issues.

I can honestly say that I doubt that Catholics will like it as it does not pull any punches in it's attack on the church. Whether the attack is justified or not in the context of Mexico I cannot say - you decide.

I would also agree that it thoroughly deserves it's Oscar nomination but with so many great foreign films out there I cannot say whether it deserves to win or not.

If you like films that explore human emotions, deceptions and weaknesses then this is for you. I would highly recommend it to anybody who has some time to spare and would like to try something a little bit different.

FootNote
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When I hit the play button on the DVD that I rented it immediately went into the film and to my surprise the actors were speaking English. However, after about 5 seconds the horrible lip-sync problem was apparent as well as the fact that the voices had no depth. If you do rent this film I implore you to go into the settings and change to the original Spanish with English subtitles. Dubbing is a horror that you should never tolerate. Yes, OK, it seems so much easier not to have to read those damn subtitles but you will lose all the feeling and nuances of the actors voices and you will be listening to a dialogue that has been chosen so it fits the lip movements well and not because it has much to do with the original screenplay.

So, please, please, do not watch the dubbed version. It is an evil device that should never be imposed upon a good film and if I was reviewing the DVD rather than the film I would knock off two stars just because it does this.

And Finally
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Rated 15 for sexuality, language and some disturbing images.

Official Site : http://padreamaro.ad2.com

Thankyou for reading.